The quality of the control over economic processes depends, among other factors, on the information received relative to the economic guiding forces affecting the behavior of the economic system as well as the effects of the guiding forces themselves together with outside or foreign measures (events), and the ability to absorb and analyze this information quickly. Rather precise information concerning such facts may be obtained from a time sequence of relevant measuring data (for example, the amount of turnover and the stock of finished goods on hand), which data may be obtained from appropriate data banks. Any analysis should take into consideration not only the original data but also the rate of growth of the data and the relationships between various sets of data. As a result of these further considerations, the volume of data, which is very large in any event, is further multiplied. The problem dealt with by the present invention concerns the rapid transfer of relevant portions of very large quantities of information or data at a speed and in a form so as to permit the information to be readily digested and analyzed.
In order to make the analysis of large quantities of data easier, such data are conventionally arranged in tables and are displayed visually using suitable diagrams i.e., charts, graphs and the like. Because the relevant data is presented in different formats using different scales, determination of the underlying economic guiding forces requires that the data always be converted to a selected common scale or frame of reference prior to reading and intepretation thereof. This requires considerable time which is not usually available or can not be made available. Often growth rates and relationships between various data are also shown as auxiliary curves in further diagrams and therefore limit the number of curves for the original measuring values which are reproducible on one sheet. Whenever one wishes to investigate such growth rates and relationships without such auxiliary curves, one must go back to the original tables, locate the appropriate measurement data, and use these data to calculate the desired data with the aid of slide rules or table calculators. Such an approach is obviously time consuming and expensive.
Measures taken by the government, or by others, as well as events which are expected to have some effect on the overall federal economic statistics, are published by various agencies. It is very cumbersome and time consuming undertaking to study all of this information, particularly in the appropriate time sequence. One reason for this is that the method of presentation of this information not adjusted relative to a common base.
Recent efforts in this field to reduce the complexity of the task of intepretation of the available data concern the use of simple logarithmic unit yardsticks with 24 mm/year scale. In the articles "Continuous Observation of the Receipts of Orders-Share of the Market in the Case of Capital Goods", New Business Administration, No. 4, 1966, p. 101-102 and "Method of the Process Analysis", special reprint of the "Rationalization Kuratorium", Frankfurt, 1974, an examination is provided of how the growth rates and relationships referred may be determined and read by longitudinal takeups and parallel shiftings. This method is only applicable when complete logarithmic scale divisions are available. Such an addition results in increased expenditure in the case of computer drawings and is generally undesirable from this standpoint. Moreover, calculations which are combined with readings can be only carried out with great difficulty using this approach.